The is a private

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...

, located on the former '' Ōzone Shimoyashiki'' compound in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, central

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Its collection contains more than 12,000 items, including

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

costumes and masks, lacquer furniture, Chinese and Japanese

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

, and paintings from the Chinese

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

and Yuan dynasties (960-1368).

History

Unlike many private museums in Japan, which are based on collections assembled in the modern era by corporations or entrepreneurs, the Tokugawa Art Museum houses the hereditary collection of the

Owari branch The is a branch of the Tokugawa clan, and it is the seniormost house of the ''Gosanke'' ("three honourable houses of the Tokugawa").Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

, which ruled the

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated at ...

in what is now

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

. The museum is operated by the Tokugawa Reimeikai Foundation, which was founded in 1931 by Yoshichika Tokugawa (1886–1976), 19th head of the Owari clan, in order to preserve the clan's priceless collection of art objects, furnishings, and heirlooms.

Building architecture

The

architectural plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

for the museum main building and southern archives were drawn up by Yoshio Yoshimoto, and construction was completed in 1935. The architecture is in the Imperial Crown style, in which the roof and exterior follow a classic Japanese design over a Western style building.

Collection

The permanent exhibition also shows historical reproduction of the

Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...

Ninomaru palace living quarters of the Owari Tokugawa

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

, allowing visitors to view the objects as they were actually used in settings such as a Japanese tea-house or the Noh stage of the palace. The museum also mounts temporary exhibitions in a building that has been declared a national cultural property. The most important and valuable treasures are the

Genji Monogatari Emaki The , also called ''The Tale of Genji'' Scroll, is a famous illustrated handscroll of the Japanese literature classic '' The Tale of Genji'', produced during the 12th century, perhaps . The surviving sections, now broken up and mounted for co ...

, three

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

illustrated handscrolls of '' The Tale of Genji'', dating to the 1130s. Along with one other scroll from the same set, now preserved at the

Gotoh Museum The is a private museum in the Kaminoge district of Setagaya on the southwest periphery of Tokyo. It was opened in 1960, displaying the private collection of Keita Gotō, chairman of the Tokyu Group. Today's collection is centered on the origin ...

, they are the earliest extant depictions of the epic tale and are

National Treasures of Japan Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scien ...

. The scrolls are so fragile that they are not permanently displayed to the public. Since at least 2001, they have been displayed in the Tokugawa Museum for one week in November. Other registered important art objects include: * ''Beni Annan Soukamon

Chawan A ''chawan'' (; literally "tea bowl") is a bowl used for preparing and drinking tea. Many types of ''chawan'' are used in East Asian tea ceremonies. The choice of their use depends upon many considerations. History The ''chawan'' originated i ...

'' tea bowl (紅安南草花文茶碗), flowering-plant design, blue and white with red and green enamels. Vietnam, 16th C. * Tea bowl named ''Mishima-oke'' (三島桶),

Mishima ware Mishima ware (三島焼) refers to different types of imported and adopted Japanese pottery. Mishima originally refers to the shimamono pottery imported from the islands of Taiwan, Luzon, and "Amakawa" (Macau). They were characterized by being roug ...

type, carved and inlaid decoration,

Buncheong ware ''Buncheong'', or ''punch'ong'', ware is a traditional form of Korean stoneware, with a blue-green tone. Pieces are coated with white slip (ceramics), and decorative designs are added using a variety of techniques. This style originated in the 15 ...

from Korea,

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

, 15-16th century. It was owned by

Sen no Rikyu Sen may refer to: Surname * Sen (surname), a Bengali surname * Şen, a Turkish surname * A variant of the Serer patronym Sène Currency subunit * Etymologically related to the English word ''cent''; a hundredth of the following currencies: ** ...

and Doan, later

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

and then the 1st Owari lord

Tokugawa Yoshinao was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Biography Born the ninth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu with his concubine, Okame no Kata. His childhood name was Gorōtamaru (五郎太丸). While still a young child, he was appointed leader of ...

Classified a ''O-Meibutsu'' * Celadon censer named ''Chidori'' (千鳥) The

Hōsa Library The Hōsa Library (蓬左文庫) is a library located on the compound of the '' Ōzone Shimoyashiki'' in Nagoya, central Japan. History Tokugawa Yoshinao, the first lord of the Owari Domain, established it as an official archive. It was transfe ...

is located next to the museum and houses 110,000 items, including classic literature belonging to the Owari branch. Located next to the museum is the

Tokugawa Garden The Tokugawa Garden (徳川園 Tokugawa-en) is a Japanese garden in the city of Nagoya, central Japan. It is located next to the Tokugawa Art Museum. History In the early Edo period (1603-1867), Tokugawa Mitsutomo (1625-1700), the second lo ...

Sample exhibits

File:Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (Tokugawa Art Museum) 2.jpg, Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (14th century) File:Honda links.jpg, Honda Heihachiro with Senhime (17th century) left panel File:Honda rechts.jpg, Honda Heihachiro with Senhime (17th century) right panel File:Ksitigarbha (Tokugawa Art Museum).jpg, Bodhisattva (14th century) File:Mikatagaharasenekizou.jpg, Portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu, for the occasion of the Battle of Mikatagahara File:Portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Nagakute.jpg, Portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu, at the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute(17th century) File:Yūhi Cormorants catching Fish.jpg, Kamashiro Yuhi's Cormorants catching fish, a hanging scroll on silk. (1755) File:Nagashino Teppo-Ashigaru.jpg, Battle of Nagashino featuring riflemen. (18th century)

National treasure designated illustrations from the handscroll of the Tale of Genji 12th Century

File:Genji emaki Yomogiu.JPG, Chapter "Yomogui" (Waste of Weeds) File:Genji emaki Kashiwagi.JPG, Chapter "Kashiwagi" File:Genji emaki YOKOBUE.jpg, Chapter "Yokobue" (Flute) File:Genji emaki HASHIHIME.jpg, Chapter "Hashihime" (Bridge Princess) File:Genji emaki SAWARABI.jpg, Chapter "Sawarabi" (Sprout) File:Genji emaki YADORIGI 2.JPG, Chapter "Yadorigi" (Mistletoe) File:Genji emaki Yadorigi.JPG, Chapter "Yadorigi" (Mistletoe) File:Genji emaki YOKOBUE Ms.JPG, Calligraphy example from Chapter "Yadogiri" (Mistletoe)

Literature

* *

References

External links

Official site of the Tokugawa Art Museum
{{Authority control Owari Tokugawa family Art museums and galleries in Nagoya Art museums established in 1935 1935 establishments in Japan